Country Championships Report

On the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of January, the MUAC sprint squad made the traditional trek to the Athletics Victoria Country Track and Field Championships. Perhaps not as exotic as previous locations (Geelong 09 and Albury 08), this year’s championship was held in Moe. Some call it the Paris of Victoria, others just call it dangerous. Carmen Deane might chose the second, having met a local couple as they tried to welcome themselves into her hotel room.

Despite this, the team continued the proud tradition of winning a swag of medals with 15 in total.  Star performances included Carmen Deane’s massive 400m hurdle pb, earning her a silver medal, and Rachel Painter’s domination, medaling in each of the under 20 sprint events from 100m – 800m, with gold in the 400m and 800m.   Emma Zalcman take some of the credit for Rachel’s 400m performance (a 2 second pb!), as some vigorous cheering on the back straight ensured nothing less than 110% despite a rather substantial lead.  The girls also won gold in the 4 x 100m and the 4 x 400m relay events.

Jordan Mayston was the sole representative of the distance squad and continued his good form with a pb in the 1500m and a season’s best and silver medal in the 800m. His father (currently running for Sandringham but in the sights of MUAC recruiters) was also impressive winning the 200 and 400 double in the 50+ division, aided by the added speed provided through his tactical use of tight fitting shorts which were temporarily on loan from Jordan.

Congratulations to all who competed and hopefully the MUAC tradition of country champs domination will continue in years to come.

Results